Alaska news

• Winter storm warnings and advisories blanket much of Alaska - KTUU.com

  19-11-2015 23:57
  KTUU.com
  Winter storm warnings and advisories blanket much of Alaska
  KTUU.com
  A large area of low pressure situated over the Bering Sea is causing winter storm warnings and advisories for more than half of Alaska. More from KTUU. Forest officials pulls back on proposed Mitkof timber sale · Anchorage man indicted on drug and gun ...
  Much of Alaska under weather watches and advisories ThursdayAlaska Dispatch Newsall 6 news articles »
  

• Wrangell boater found dead

  19-11-2015 19:25
  
  Kenneth Trammel left on the Thalassa Nov. 5.
  A missing Wrangell boater was found dead Wednesday afternoon, according to a dispatch from the Alaska State Troopers.
  Searchers saw a body floating in Earl West Cove, about 12 air miles southeast of Wrangell.
  Next of kin positively identified the body as Kenneth Trammel, a 53-year-old Wrangell resident.
  Trammel’s 38-foot Bayliner, the Thalassa, had not been located as of Wednesday afternoon.
  Trammel left Wrangell in his boat Nov. 5 and was
  
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• Dangerous form of heroin enters Juneau

  19-11-2015 19:24
  
  Heroin powder. (Photo courtesy Drug Enforcement Administration)
  The Juneau Police Department recently received an anonymous tip that a dangerous form of heroin has entered the city. Lt. Kris Sell said it’s called “China white,” and the police have been told it may be laced with fentanyl, a prescription drug used for pain management.
  “The fentanyl being mixed with the heroin could be a game changer,” she said. “They might misestimate what their dosage woul
  
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• Alaska working on rules for legalized pot industry

  19-11-2015 19:22
  Voters approved the legal the production, sale and use of marijuana for Alaskans over 21 years old in the November election. (Creative Commons photo by Brett Levin)
  The state of Alaska is working to finalize rules that will help govern its legal marijuana trade. But some industry supporters say a proposed ban on on-site consumption flies in the face of an initiative approved by voters last year.
  Regulations being considered by the state’s Marijuana Control Board also would ban marijuana so
  
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• U.S. Senate bill could cut Alaska ferry funding

  19-11-2015 19:20
  The ferry Taku sails into the Wrangell Narrows on its way south in 2013. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
  A federal funding battle could affect the future of the Alaska Marine Highway System.
  Ferry chief Mike Neussl says formula changes in the U.S. Senate’s version of a transportation bill would reduce the amount of money available to fix Alaska ships.
  “That’s what repowers the vessels. That’s what does the (capital improvement projects) that the Columbia and fast ferries
  
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• Fall outlook shows slight uptick in sockeye sales

  19-11-2015 19:19
  Bristol Bay sockeye fillets are processed at Nakeen Homepack during the 2015 season. (Photo by Hannah Colton/KDLG)
  According to the McDowell group, this past summer’s sockeye is selling a little faster than it did in 2014.
  The McDowell Group published its fall market outlook for the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association this week. Fisheries Analyst Andy Wink said so far fish is moving faster than it did last year.
  “The frozen h&g product has actually been moving ou
  
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• FDA approves genetically engineered salmon

  19-11-2015 17:32
  Genetically engineered salmon. (Photo via FDA.gov)
  In a blow to Alaska’s salmon industry, the Food and Drug Administration announced this morning it has approved genetically modified salmon, finding it is as safe to eat as natural salmon. It’s the first such modified animal approved for human consumption in the United States.
  Alaska’s industry and congressional delegation have derided the product as “frankenfish.” Critics have tried to keep it off the mark
  
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• FDA approves GMO salmon

  19-11-2015 16:54
  In a blow to Alaska’s salmon industry, the Food and Drug Administration announced this morning it has approved genetically modified salmon, finding it is as safe to eat as natural salmon.
  It’s the first altered animal approved for human consumption in the United States.
  Alaska’s industry and congressional delegation have derided the product as “frankenfish.”
  Critics have tried to keep it off the market, questioning both its safety and its potential to damage wild sa
  
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• Conoco advances project in NPR-A; Independents snap up North Slope leases

  19-11-2015 04:17
  
  
  Corrie Feige of DNR’s Division of Oil and Gas reads out bids during the state’s annual North Slope lease sale. Photo: Rachel Waldholz, APRN
  ConocoPhillips announced today (Nov. 18) that it will move ahead with construction of a $900 million project in the North Slope’s National Petroleum Reserve.
  The project, called the Greater Moose’s Tooth Unit, joins Conoco’s CD5 development, which started production earlier this fall on nearby Alaska Native lands. The two projec
  
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• Judge tosses Pebble subpoenas for some individuals, groups

  19-11-2015 03:37
  
  
  A federal judge in Anchorage has quashed some subpoenas issued to opponents of the Pebble mine. In a 14-page ruling issued Wednesday, Judge H. Russel Holland said Pebble was “pushing the envelope” as it seeks information from third parties about EPA’s efforts to preemptively block development of the proposed mine.
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  The subpoenas relate to Pebble’s lawsuit against EPA alleging violations of FACA, or the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
  
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• Alaska News Nightly: Weds., Nov. 18, 2015

  19-11-2015 03:36
  
  
  Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.Download Audio
   
  Conoco advances NPR development on SlopeRachel Waldholz, APRN – Anchorage
  ConocoPhillips announced today that it will move ahead with construction of a $900 million project in the North Slope’s National Petroleum Reserve.
  Judge tosse
  
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• AFD overruns budget, points to 7% uptick in calls

  19-11-2015 03:35
  
  
  The Anchorage Fire Department is expecting a substantial budget shortfall.
  Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage
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  Fire Chief Dennis LeBlanc told the assembly’s Public Safety Committee today he anticipates AFD will go $650,000 dollars over its projected 2015 budget . That is a variance of 0.7 percent on the Department’s $93 million budget, which many criticized as underfunding certain operations under the administration of Dan Sullivan.
  One reason for the overrun
  
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• Diversity recruitment falters as APD struggles drawing applicants

  19-11-2015 03:34
  
  
  The Police Department has struggled in recent years to hit its target goal of graduating 28 officers per academy. The incoming class has just 18 recruits. Photo by Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage.
  As city leaders work to increase the size of the Anchorage Police Department, they’re also beginning efforts to boost diversity within the force. But it’s off to a lukewarm start, bumping up to a familiar problem: Enticing enough new recruits to fill an Academy.
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  Last Thu
  
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• Chanlyut helps men restart, learn to ‘live life on life’s terms’

  19-11-2015 03:33
  
  
  Chanlyut director Bill Tsurnos sits in the living room of the residential re-education program. Hillman/KSKA
  Sometimes starting over means more than just looking for a new job or a new place to live. It means relearning how to “live life on life’s terms,” says Bill Tsurnos, the director of Chanlyut. The free, two-year intensive residential program in Anchorage run by Cook Inlet Tribal Council is helping men do just that.
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  Tsurnos sits in a bright, airy common room
  
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• Alaska drafts transboundary mine agreement with BC

  19-11-2015 03:32
  
  
  British Columbia Mines Minister Bill Bennett, left, and Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott talk at a dinner at Juneau’s Walter Soboleff Center in August. (Photo courtesy of the governor’s office)
  Alaska officials have drafted an agreement with British Columbia aimed at protecting transboundary waters. They say it will address concerns about pollution from mines on rivers that flow into Alaska. But critics say it may not make any difference, because it has no teeth.
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  Lt.
  
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• Sitkans gather for edible celebration at Wild Foods Potluck

  19-11-2015 02:24
  Every year, the Sitka Conservation Society hosts a Wild Foods Potluck. It’s an edible celebration of all that can be picked, plucked, hunted, fished, grown, and gathered in Sitka. This year, over 150 people attended and brought dishes.
  The Wild Foods Potluck, hosted by the Sitka Conservation Society at ANB Hall, brought over 150 Sitkans together for an evening of sharing – and taste testing – wild foods. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)
  There was a long table running down the middle of
  
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• Chanlyut helps men hit reset, learn to ‘live life on life’s terms’

  19-11-2015 02:23
  Chanlyut director Bill Tsurnos sits in the living room of the residential re-education program. Hillman/KSKA
  Sometimes starting over means more than just looking for a new job or a new place to live. It means relearning how to “live life on life’s terms,” says Bill Tsurnos, the director of Chanlyut. The free, two-year intensive residential program in Anchorage run by Cook Inlet Tribal Council is helping men do just that.
  Tsurnos sits in a bright, airy common room, his late uncl
  
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• State Forester: Feds should ease certification for fire aircraft

  19-11-2015 01:46
  After Alaska’s second worst fire season on record, the state forester told a U.S. Senate committee the government should stop practices that he says needlessly sideline firefighting aircraft.
  Sen. Lisa Murkowski called the hearing to discuss how to improve federal fire management. Alaska State Forester Chris Maisch says one long-standing problem is that both the Forest Service and the Interior Department require aircraft to meet certain standards for firefighting, and each agency certifies
  
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